Today was a hectic one indeed! and one of those where everything seemed to be running 30-60 minutes behind where it should be, and on top of everything, today’s cook session for a regular client had me feeling a little like I was cooking to the timeclock on Top Chef! … at the end of it all, we did get the 12 meals and sides cranked out within the 2 hour timeframe! 3 chicken pies, 3 bison meatloaf, 3 sole with marrow squash and shallots, and 3 chicken curry.There’s no real trick to getting this kind of stuff done within tight timeframes, other than the pressure cooker (used for the forces of good) to get the lamb shoulder in the curry sufficiently tender.  Its mostly a matter of making sure you prep everything at once and have more than one burner going, AND use the oven! (parchment paper is your friend!)

I wanted to share with you this bison meatloaf – its not just gluten-free, but I had to find a way to also make it without eggs or rice or potatoes.  Bison is a great protein for us, its local, and grassfed! but because it is so lean, it can tend to be dry, and with no eggs or traditional binders, I had to come up with an alternative that I think comes out tasty AND moist!

The secret here is using a combination of raw buckwheat groats and chia seeds ground into a flour.  Both of these are natural binders – the chia seeds make dandy egg replacers!  They absorb more than their weight in liquid, and hang onto it, which is perfect for a lean meat like bison.  This would also work well with ground turkey!  the other old-timey trick I’ve used here is to actually grate some onion into the mixture.  It adds great flavour throughout the meatloaf.

I’ve baked these in individual loaf tins, which makes for really easy portion control, but if you prefer a larger meatloaf, you could easily make a larger one, and brush with a classic ketchup glaze

RECIPE

2 T buckwheat groats
2 T chia seed
– grind in a spice grinder into a flour
add 4-6 T water, mix and let stand 10 minutes until it becomes a thick gel
1-2 T olive oil
approx. 1 lb ground bison
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
1/4 cup grated onion
1 1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence

portion into individual loaf tins (approx 1/2 cup meatloaf mix per), Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

#blog   #glutenfree